Despite being one of the best-managed reef ecosystems in the world, climate change is compounding the impact of many threats to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) at a faster rate than it can naturally adapt. Even with strong action to reduce climate change, water temperatures will continue to rise, and stay elevated, for a long period. Additional action is, therefore, needed to help the GBR withstand climate-related threats.
The Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP) – the largest, most comprehensive program of its type in the world – is a collaboration of Australia’s leading experts, to create a suite of innovative and targeted measures that can be rolled out at the scale needed to help preserve and restore the reef if, when and where it is decided action is needed.
As part of RRAP, the Centre for Policy Futures leads an important assessment of the regulatory, institutional and governance implications of proposed restoration and adaptation measures. This assessment will provide critical insights into the feasibility and viability of these measures, which may also be useful to other jurisdictions, where reef restoration and adaptation – similar to the GBR – take place in a complex regulatory, institutional and governance context.